HISTORY DEPARTMENT
WEBSITES FOR SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING
Excerpted from: Social Studies on the Internet
(2nd Edition)
CATEGORIES(scroll down)
1. US HISTORY
2. WORLD HISTORY & CULTURES
3. U.S. GOVERNMENT & LAW
4. GEOGRAPHY
5. TEACHER ORGANIZATIONS
6. SPECIAL NEEDS & AT-RISK STUDENTS
7. ALTERNATIVE MEDIA
8. TEACHING ABOUT 9/11, IRAQ, and AFGHANISTAN
9. IRAQ VETERANS/ PEACE ORGANIZATIONS
1. US HISTORY
The Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov
This site includes a number of exhibitions and American treasures from the collections of the Library of Congress. The American Memory section includes a large number of digitized historical collections in both audio and visual formats. When entering the Library of Congress page, the site map assists in navigating this resource.
National Archives & Records Administration:
http://www.archives.gov/index.html
Historical researchers will be able to explore The Federal Register online as well as famous speeches and images. The Online Exhibit Hall contains primary source documents such as the Magna Carta and the Constitution. Primary source lessons plans and activities for teachers and students can be found in the site’s Digital Classroom.
National Women’s History Museum
http://www.nmwh.org
An in-depth history of the American women’s suffrage movement is presented.
Colonial America
http://earlyamerica.com
This site provides high-quality digital primary source material from 18th century America. Original newspapers, maps, and writings are shown on the computer screen much as they appeared more than 200 years ago. This is a must see site for teachers interested in document analysis.
Index of Resources for U.S. History
http://www.ukans.edu/history/VL/USA/
This site has connections to thousands of sites in United States history and other areas.
The Native American History Archive:
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu.k12/naha/index.html
An interactive time line allows exploration of the American heritage through objects found in the museum’s collection and exhibits.
Core Documents of U.S. Democracy:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_ docs/locators/coredocs/index.html
This site provides direct online access to current and historical government documents.
Lest We Forget-The Untold History of America:
http://www.coax.net/people/LWF
Dedicated to the accomplishments of African Americans, women, and Native Americans.
The National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov
ParkNet provides links to histories, cultures, and places of our nation’s past.
AFL-CIO
http://www.aflcio.org/home/htm
Representing over 13 million workers, the largest U.S. labor union provides useful information on the history of the labor movement.
Historical Text Archive http://historicaltextarchive.com/
The Civil War Home Page http://www.civil-war.net/
Benjamin Franklin http://www.english.udel.edu/lemay/franklin/
1755 The French and Indian War http://web.syr.edu/~laroux/
Documenting the American South http://metalab.unc.edu/docsouth/
The Virginia Center for Digital History https://Jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vcdh/
Virtual Ellis Island Tour http://www.capital.net/~alta/index.html
Fort Sumter http://www.tulane.edu/~latner/Union.In.Peril/Union_in_Peril.html
Virtual Jamestown http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/vcdh/jamestown/
U.S. Documents http://www.ukand tos.edu/carrie/docs/amdocs_index.html
Virtual Marching Tour of the American Revolution: http://www.ushistory.org/march/index.html
2. WORLD HISTORY AND CULTURES
Mr. Donn’s World History Resources:
http://members.aol.com/mrDonnHistory/world.html
This excellent gateway site covers traditional topics such as the history of specific periods, events, and people.
History Search.com
http://www.snowcrest.net/jmike
Intended for both students and educators, this is a comprehensive site featuring hundreds of links to sites relating to modern and ancient world history, medieval, Latin American history, etc.
BBC Modern World History
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/modern/
This site maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation features interactive animations, including animated maps and time lines.
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators:
http://discoveryschool.com/schrockfuide/history/histw.html
This excellent site should be the first place world history teachers visit: lesson plans.
History Website for Teachers
http://www.execpc.com/~dboals.html
Provides assistance to K-12 teachers in locating internet resources for the teaching..
Awesome Library: K-12 Social Studies Lesson Plans:
http://awesomelibrary.org/social.html
EDSITEment
http://edsitement.neh.fed.us
Sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this site includes lesson plans, learning guides, and links to the top humanities sites on the web.
http://www.middleweb.com/CurrsocStud.html
This gateway site provides access to a number of world history links.
Holocaust
http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust
Classroom activities, web links, music, photographs, and art are just some of the resources available on this site.
Holocaust World Resource Center
http://www.hwrc.org
This nonprofit educational site is an international center for Holocaust resources
Holocaust History Project
http://holocaust-history.org
This web site provides educators and students with free archives of documents and essays.
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
http://www.adc.org
Arab American Institute
http://aaiusa.org
Africa-Related Links
http://polyglot.lss.wisc.edu/afrst/links/html.
Africa
http://www.execpc.com/~dboals/Africa.html#AFRICA
African Studies Internet Resources:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/African/cuvl
A wealth of resources and links for both students and teachers.
Ask Asia
http://www.askasia.org
Annotated listings and links to resources on the region as a whole and on the individual.
India & China
http://www.csupomona.edu/~inch/
Curriculum projects created by teachers.
China on the Net
http://www.kn.pacball.com/wired/China/hotlist.html
Comprehensive list of Internet links for the study of China.
Europe/Russia/Eastern Europe
http://www.execpc.com/~dboals/europe.html
History/Social studies Web site for K-12 Teachers. Information pertaining to topics such as Ancient and classical history medieval times, the Renaissance and Reformation, modern world.
Africa Quest
http://africaquest.classroom.com
3. U.S. GOVERNMENT & LAW
Avalon Project - Documents in Law & History:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.html
This award winning site provides full-text documents foundational to the studies of American democracy, from the Code of Hammurabi (B.C. 1750) to the executive order establishing the Office of Homeland Security (2001). This site is truly astonishing for its depth and ease of use.
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
http://www.aclu.org
The ACLU site offers resources and commentary on dozens of the most difficult legal issues facing this nation, including abortion, gay rights, the death penalty, racial equality, student’s rights, and privacy. Older students love it. The ACLU is a public interest organization devoted exclusively to protecting the basic civil liberties guaranteed in the Bill of rights.In its 70 years of existence, the ACLU has become a national institution.
Center for Civic Educatio:
www.civiced.org
It is easy-to-navigate site provides curricular materials, Internet links and resources, and articles and papers on civic education and responsible citizenship.
Open Secrets: The Center for Responsive Politics
http://www.opensecrets.org
Open Secrets is an online source for data about money in politics. This site shows how money flows into political campaigns and provides analyses of who is contributing to whom and for what purposes. This is an interesting site for both teacher and student research.
British BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml
The most interesting perspective on one’s own country comes from abroad. The BBC World Service home page provides news from the U.S. (and almost everywhere else) in English..
National Law-Related Education Resource Center:
http://www.abenet.org/publiced/nlrc,html
The National Law-related Resource Center provides an excellent gateway to dozens of Internet resources for law-related education for children and youth. From this site, teachers can order the LRE Report, the nation’s leading newsletter on issues, trends, and law-related education.
U.S. House of Representatives
https://www.house.gov
The house site access to congressional representatives as well as information about current deliberations and votes. Linked to the home page is an excellent document on “The Legislative Process” and the protocols and operations of the House.
U.S. House of Representatives :Educational Resources:
http://www.house.gov/house/Educat.html
A special section of the House of Representatives web site provides educational resources on the legislative process, how laws are made, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution.
U.S. Senate
http://www.senate.gov
Contact a senator, track a presidential nomination, follow activity on the Senate floor…. Students and teachers can also find interesting and engaging material on the history of the Senate.
U.S. Supreme Court
http://supremecourtus.gov/
The Supreme Court home page links the viewer to information which provides an overview of the Supreme Court, the docket, the court schedule, opinions, and other helpful resources.
4. GEOGRAPHY
Blank Maps of Countries and States:
http://geography.about.com/cs/blankoutlinemaps/
Geography Games:
http://members.aol.com/bowermanb/games.html
Maps of Native American Nations:
http://indy4.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/mapsmenu.html#buttons
5. TEACHER ORGANIZATIONS
Rethinking Schools
www.rethingschools.org
Great resources for teachers, including lesson plans, from a multicultural perspective. Strong social justice focus. Also a good source for info on school reform and general education issues. Host annual conference and magazine.
Teaching Tolerance
www.Teachingtolerance.org
Great resources for teachers. Many free videos. Magazine.
National Council for the Social Studies
www.ncss.org
National organization for social studies teachers. Lots of great info. Wonderful annual conferences every Nov. New England regional conferences in Boston every March.
Educators for Social Responsibility
http://www.esrnational.org/
6. TEACHING ABOUT 9/11, IRAQ, and AFGHANISTAN
Rethinking Schools
www.rethingschools.org
Many links and lesson plans.
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
http://www.adc.org
Arab American Institute
http://aaiusa.org
Educators for Social Responsibility
http://www.esrnational.org/
National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder:
http://wwwncptsd.org/what_is_new.html
Helping Children Cope with Violence & Disasters (Nat’l Institute of Mental Health) http://www.nimh.mih.gov/publicat/violence.cfm
Historians Against the War
www.historiansagainstwar.org
Resources and web links for teachers and lesson plans.
7. SPECIAL NEEDS & AT-RISK STUDENTS
Pathways to School Improvement
http://www.ncrel/sdrs/areas/at0cont.htm
Some of the best resources on the Internet for teaching-at-risk students. Be sure to check out their Trip Planner Inventory, a tool designed to help begin the school improvement process.
8. ALTERMATIVE MEDIA
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)
www.fair.org
National media watchdog. Offers in-depth critiques of mainstream media and news.
www.commondreams.org
Provides a compilation of daily news reports from a wide variety of media.
9. IRAQ VETERANS/ PEACE ORGANIZATIONS
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is the nation's largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and their civilian supporters. www.iava.org
Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is committed to saving lives and ending the violence in Iraq by an immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces. www.ivaw.org/
Veterans For Peace includes men and women veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, other conflicts and peacetime veterans. www.veteransforpeace.org
Veterans Against the Iraq War is a coalition of American veterans who support our troops but oppose war with Iraq or any other nation that does not pose a clear and present danger to. www.vaiw.org
The National Gulf War Resource Center was organized by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War who began experiencing unexplained illnesses after returning. Over 150,000 Gulf War veterans are now ill. www.ngwrc.org
FAMILY ORGANIZATIONS:
Military Families Speak Out is an organization of people who are opposed to war in Iraq and who have relatives or loved ones in the military. www.mfso.org/
Gold Star Families Speak Out is comprised of members whose loved ones served in the military during the period including the build-up to the war in Iraq (fall, 2002) to the present, and have been killed or have died. www.gsfso.org/
Operation GratitudeAmerican troops are deployed in hostile and remote regions of the world. Weseek to lift troops' morale by sending care packages which include food, gifts, and personal letters of appreciation. www.opgratitude.com
RESOURCES:
Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Inc. (VVAW) is a national organization that was founded in New York City in 1967 after six Vietnam vets marched together in a peace demonstration. www.vvaw.org
Citizen Soldier is a GI/veterans rights advocacy group founded during the Vietnam war. www.citizen-soldier.org/
GI Rights Hotline is a network of nonprofit organizations that provide information to service members about military discharges, grievance and complaint procedures, and other civil rights. www.objector.org/girights/contact.html
National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force (NLGMLTF) is an excellent legal support project for military and military families to protect their constitutional rights, particularly the right to speak out.
www.couragetoresist.orgsupports those who refuse to fight.
See alsowww.soldiervoices.net/